Your First Look Inside a Comet!

In January 2005, Deep Impact began its six-month journey to comet Tempel 1. Zooming along at 23,000 miles per hour, the spacecraft met the comet about 82 million miles from Earth.

The flyby spacecraft then released the impactor. For the next 24 hours, the impactor guided itself into the comet’s path—until the two collided. The impact created a crater about 492 feet wide.

By peering into the crater, the flyby’s telescopes and spectrometer viewed what no one has ever seen: the inside of a comet nucleus. For 15 minutes the flyby rapidly captured images and data and transmitted them back to Earth.

Meanwhile, people on Earth viewed the spectacular impact and the flying debris. The Hubble Space Telescope and other instruments in space also observed this “fireworks show,” which occurred on July 4, 2005.

Comets formed 4.5 billion years ago when the solar system was forming and have changed little since then. Thus this incredible NASA mission has provided clues about our solar system’s origins.

To read more about Deep Impact’s science and technology, and the people who made it happen, go to https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/deepimpact/index.cfm www.ballaerospace.com

Or search for key words: Deep Impact home page Your First Look Inside a Comet!

In January 2005, Deep Impact began its six-month journey to comet Tempel 1. Zooming along at 23,000 miles per hour, the spacecraft met the comet about 82 million miles from Earth.

The flyby spacecraft then released the impactor. For the next 24 hours, the impactor guided itself into the comet’s path—until the two collided. The impact created a crater about 492 feet wide.

By peering into the crater, the flyby’s telescopes and spectrometer viewed what no one has ever seen: the inside of a comet nucleus. For 15 minutes the flyby rapidly captured images and data and transmitted them back to Earth.

Meanwhile, people on Earth viewed the spectacular impact and the flying debris. The Hubble Space Telescope and other instruments in space also observed this “fireworks show,” which occurred on July 4, 2005.

Comets formed 4.5 billion years ago when the solar system was forming and have changed little since then. Thus this incredible NASA mission has provided clues about our solar system’s origins.

To read more about Deep Impact’s science and technology, and the people who made it happen, go to https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/deepimpact/index.cfm www.ballaerospace.com

Or search for key words: Deep Impact home page

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